Ukraine, Explained
Feeling overwhelmed? Don't be. Here's a simple guide to the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Unless you've been living completely isolated from every news outlet in the world for the past few days, you've heard about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On Apple News, Ukraine dominates the top five stories, and hashtags and trends related to the invasion have gone viral on Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. But despite all of this attention, the conflict is still extremely complex and difficult to understand. If all of this excitement has left you a little confused, don't worry- we've got you covered. Here's everything you need to know about the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
First of all, let's discuss relations between Russia and Ukraine historically. Russia has always believed that it should be in control of Ukraine. This belief stems from the 17th century, when Ukrainian lands were part of the Russian Empire, and the 20th century, when they were part of the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, Ukraine became an independent state. But since 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed a desire to regain control over the country. There are a multitude of complex reasons that Russia believes it should control Ukraine. For one, there's national pride: Russians, especially Russian elites, want to reclaim the old sense of control that came from being a superpower in the 20th century. Then again, maybe the real reason goes one step further: maybe Russia is trying to reestablish its historic territorial claims and remake the Soviet Union. But there's also another, more practical, reason: security. The Russians feel that if Ukraine is left alone, it will eventually join NATO, and Russia doesn't want another NATO country on its border. It fears that having NATO border countries will endanger Russia, because NATO countries can host western weapons.
NATO, short for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a military alliance that was founded in the wake of the second World War. Its original aim was to counter post-war Russian expansion into Europe. There are 12 base members, including the United States and Canada as well as the UK and other Western European members. However, after the Soviet Union collapsed, NATO added many countries that had formerly been Soviet territories to its organization. This expansion into Eastern Europe has been met with Russian hostility for years. In fact, a common Russian perspective is that the current Russian invasion of Ukraine is the natural result of years of expanding NATO influence into the east. From Russia's perspective, NATO's expansion into Ukraine and other eastern European countries is nothing short of open hostility, and they've responded as such.
Ukraine and NATO have a complicated history. Ukraine has always shown some level of interest in joining NATO. For example, they applied to begin a plan toward becoming a NATO member in 2008. However, in 2010, Ukraine elected a pro-Russia anti-west president named Viktor Yanukovych. After this election, Ukraine-NATO relations faltered. Besides the fact that the administration was anti-NATO, the Ukrainian people at large weren't in favor of joining the military alliance either. Polls conducted among Ukrainians between 2005 and 2013 showed that public support for membership in NATO was low. But all that changed in 2014 after Russia's invasion of Crimea.
In 2014, pro-Russian president Yanukovych was ousted by anti-Russia, pro-west protestors. This event was called the "Maidan uprising." In the midst of the chaos caused by this event, pro-Kremlin sentiment on the outskirts of the country emerged. Russia took advantage of these sentiments and invaded the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. According to Russia and Putin, this invasion freed an ethnically Russian people from the Ukrainian "regime." On the other hand, this invasion was seen by Ukraine (and by most of the wider global community) as a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty.
After Russia's invasion of Crimea (and the ousting of pro-Russian president Yanukovych) in 2014, Ukraine had a different attitude toward the west. Ukraine's new administration, headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made NATO membership a priority; they even amended Ukraine's constitution to make a transition into NATO easier. The Ukrainian government isn't the only one whose attitude changed. Since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, polls have shown that about 50% of Ukrainians support NATO membership, and some polls place this number even higher. That's a stark difference from the pre-annexation polls.
Eventually, tensions between Russia and Ukraine snowballed into the conflict that we face today. It could be because Ukraine was making progress toward admission into NATO. It could also be because Putin simply felt that the time was right. Some feel that Putin was taking into account the Olympics, the weather, and US midterm elections in his strategizing. Whatever the reason, in Spring of 2021 Russia began massing troops near Ukraine's borders. In November, the number of troops surged to 100,000. The wider global community was alarmed by these movements and urged Russia to stand down. Russia presented a series of demands, including that NATO remove troops from eastern Europe and promise never to allow Ukraine to join the military alliance. Of course, these demands were viewed by NATO countries as outrageous, and NATO refused to comply.
Then, in February, Putin took action. He ordered "peacekeeping forces" into two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. These "breakaway regions" contained more pro-Russian sentiment than other parts of Ukraine. But Russia didn't restrict its actions only to these smaller territories. Rather, on the 24th of February, Putin authorized "special military operations" within Ukraine, striking into the heart of major Ukrainian cities, including capital Kiev.
The most recent update on the conflict is that Russia has captured Ukrainian city Kherson, which lies in the southernmost part of the country. More than 870,000 people have fled from Ukraine, according to the UN. The situation is still extremely unstable and volatile.
Up until now, no other countries have gotten seriously involved in the war, although many have levied economic sanctions. While this may sound like a light weapon, it actually strikes deep into the heart of Russia's economy, dealing serious blows to Russian citizens and elites alike. The value of the ruble, Russia's currency, has fallen tremendously, and interest rates are soaring. Over time, these economic sanctions may make the Ukrainian war less popular among the Russian people.
For most Americans, the most important question about this war is probably "is the US involved?" The answer? No- not directly. The US has emphasized repeatedly that it will not involve itself in the conflict militarily. However, it does support Ukraine diplomatically, and has led NATO's response to the conflict. In other words, it has advised other NATO countries on the establishment of the economic sanctions. There's no evidence that the US will increase its involvement any further. That being said, if Russia were to extend its invasion into a NATO country like Poland or Romania (which is extremely unlikely), the US, as well as all other NATO countries, would be bound by alliance to defend them.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a situation that is constantly developing, with new events changing the playing field practically every day. It's a difficult issue to stay on top of. But with all of this background information- as well as up-to-date information on the state of the conflict as of now- you're better prepared to reach a true understanding of the complex Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Phoenix Boggs (11)
This is Phoenix's fourth year on The Edge staff. As the Editor-in-Chief, she is responsible for editing all of the writing in the Magazine. She spends most of her time watching Star Trek and reading Isaac Asimov.